The former West Ham striker says Obasi’s claim is valid, but Keshi never collected money from him even when he offered
Emmanuel Emenike has backed Chinedu Obasi’s recent statement, saying players offer bribes to coaches and Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) officials for national team slots.
Former Schalke star, Obasi, caused controversy last week when he revealed that he was dropped from the 2014 World Cup squad because he refused to pay a bribe.
Several personalities have reacted to Obasi’s recent allegations with his former teammate, Emenike, the latest player to have a say on the issue.
The former Spartak Moscow striker was part of the Nigeria team that won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013 and was also named in the squad that went to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Emenike says Obasi’s allegations are true but defended the late Stephen Keshi. Keshi was the Super Eagles manager at the 2014 World Cup, and it’s believed that Obasi’s accusations were levelled against him.
However, Emenike has come in defence of the former Togo manager but admits there’s a lot of corrupt practices in the national team.
“What Chinedu said, he just did not wake up to say this,” Emenike told owngoal. He’s been having this thing in his mind, he needs to take it out, and if I see any ex-footballer that attacks Chinedu, I will attack the person back because he’s saying the truth.
”For me, I have never paid anyone in the national team, and even when I did endorsement with Guinness, I tried to give Stephen Keshi out of the money which he rejected saying he doesn’t need anything from me,” Emenike added.